News

EverQuest Going Free-to-Play in March

Also, the game's 13 years old. Good luck not feeling self-conscious about your age.

It seems like only yesterday that I first booted up EverQuest, innocent eyes wide-open at the prospect of infinite online adventure. But it wasn't yesterday; it was more than a decade ago. And back in my day, we paid our $15 expansions in the snow, and we liked it. Now, though, it's all free-to-play this, free-to-play that. Next thing you know, children will be using curse words.

SOE's flipping the F2P switch in early March, but it's billing this as "free to play, your way." So you can keep your piggy bank high, dry, and out of harm's way, or you can opt for "recurring subscriptions, non-recurring subscriptions, Silver or Free memberships, item unlockers, and more."

All players will also receive a Welcome Pack at launch, which includes some experience potions, a weapon customization option, an item to display in your home, and a "unique Mercenary to fight by your side." I don't entirely understand how it's unique if everybody's getting one, but I digress.

SOE's hosting a webcast Q&A about the transition on Thursday, so I imagine that's when it plans to delve into the nitty gritty of the nickles and dimes.

Until then, though, what's your fondest EverQuest memory? Mine's the time I first encountered a Sand Giant... roughly three seconds before he stomped me into a sticky puddle of dwarven goo. Nowadays, MMOs try to make you feel like you're the God Emperor Space President of Big Damn Heroes whether you're level one or 100, but EverQuest made me earn it. It was a world that attempted to reject me -- like some kind of Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Kids person in that dumb rehashed TV cliche where characters enter another character's body -- but that made me love it all the more.